After a couple weeks struggling to spend much time in the studio, I was able to spend more time in the studio to make 18 (!) pieces, and 17 pieces made it off the wheel. I think the flop was a mug but it was the first of 18 so I can’t even remember anymore. This week’s pieces:
Before I got this texture tool, I would shape all my pieces by hand, which I enjoy but takes a lot more time. I think the only downside to using a texture tool is it’s harder to make a unique piece. I’ll be buying more texture tools though and try to find ways to add my own design to the pieces.
I’m suuuuper excited about these jars. I definitely need to be careful when I get to glazing to make sure the lid and jar don’t get stuck to each other. All my lidded jars have been getting stuck so far. These were definitely tough to make consistent in size even when I was measuring the height and width. You can tell from the photo that the lids look a little different.
Most of my pieces have been in the 1-1.5 lb range, but I decided to start moving up and made two planters with about 2 lbs of clay.
I’ve been seeing this vase/planter shape in lots of photos and on my walks around the neighborhood so I wanted to give the shape a try. I like how the bottom half looks like a stand for the top half of the vase.
Finally, I revisited an old shape I haven’t made in a couple years: lil round vases which I think of as moon vases. When I first attempted this shape, I struggled a lot with shaping the rounded form and closing the top. So I only made two and was too annoyed to try more (pic of the original pieces below).
I decided to give these another try with about 1 lb of aardvark’s charcoal clay. I’m a big fan of this clay! It’s a nice balance of soft so it’s easy to center but also has enough grog to easily shape. I’m thinking I’ll make more of these and glaze some in white and some in clear.
All the pieces gathered for a family photo:
rachel om pottery 
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